Fallout 3

It's the release of the video game Fallout 3 today. The Artist asked me I opinion of it and whether I was going to purchase it.

The answer is yes, just maybe not right now. Firstly no demo has appeared on the PSN (even Mercenaries 2, another sand-box game, provided one), secondly the majority of multi-platform online reviewers have played the Xbox version and obviously based their opinions on that, and thirdly I'm not happy about the way it's being sold.

Allow me to elaborate. There is of course the default option of game on it's own available on PC, Xbox360, and PS3. Using Amazon's prices they're set at £26.98, £39.98, and £39.98 respectively... except I can understand the added costs of the Playstation Blu-ray version, but the PC and Xbox versions both use DVD media so why the discrepancy? Ah well it seems this is always the case and isn't my main beef.

As I was saying before I interrupted myself, there's the game on it's own, then there's the Collector's Edition which is the game (obviously) plus a 'making of' DVD, an art-book and a Vault-Boy bobble head figure all contained within a Vault-tec lunchbox. If you're in the USA you can get a Survival Edition which is identical to the Collector's with the edition of a PIP-Boy alarm clock. If you're in the UK Game are doing their own version which is the game plus a Power-Armour figurine.

So if you're in the UK and want the Power-Armour figurine you have to forego the bobble-head etc., if you want the bobble-head you can't have the figurine; unless you buy both editions and get two copies of the game. Now in theory I cold buy both editions and then sell the bare game to The Artist if he wanted it, just stupid that I would have too.

Now as I said I wasn't going to get this game right now, but the fact that the figurine edition is a UK-only option means in theory it's going to be rarer and thus possibly more e-bayable in the future; and as it's only £5 more then the bare game it's damn tempting I'll have to take a look at it this weekend.

I'm in two minds about this, the game is essentially Oblivion with baseball bats and guns set in a post-apocalyptic state rather then swords, bows, and forests and I haven't finished that yet as it's so damn big. I also don't have the same 'I must get this' vibe as I did with Bioshock which admittedly has a few problems, but nothing that's made me regret my 'impulse' decision (even Amazon's recent dropping of the price by a tenner) and I'm still happily sneaking around in that and really want to replay it in Survivor Mode which apparently is a whole new ball-game. So my majority game time is split between these two with the odd Orange Box run or even PS2 Silent Hill'ing; throwing in Fallout 3 which due to the lack of a demo is a unknown quality... hmmm. No I'll see how the mood takes me on Saturday.